Ed Cumming reports on one woman’s 'mad idea’ to enhance her neighbourhood.

Have you ever looked at your street and thought how much nicer the fronts of houses would look with a bit of good gardening? Or grown tired of waiting for the local authorities to do something and dreamt of taking matters into your own hands?

That’s precisely what Full Frontal, a group of like-minded neighbours in Rochester, Kent, have done. Starting with a few unpromising streets, they have, with pots and planting, covered concrete with flowers. Their efforts to transform the appearance of their streets have been so successful that they have now been invited by Medway Council to roll the scheme out across the area.

“It was a mad idea which came to me at about one in the morning,” says Fern Alder, the project’s founder. “I’d always had plants in the front of my house and thought it would be nice if the rest of the road did the same. A few of us got together and came up with the name, then we dropped fliers through the street asking if people wanted to be involved.

“Once we’d done our houses, we started to look at the communal areas. There was one corner which was particularly bad, where vans were pulling up and dumping whole households’ worth of rubbish. Now there isn’t room to dump anything and we’ve got 20 different sorts of buddleia from the National Collection there. People are less likely to dump rubbish on something which looks nice.”

Because most of the planting is at the fronts of houses, containers play a big part. Fern says Full Frontal isn’t fussy about what is used. “We’ve planted up dustbins, baths, old tyres – anything, really. You don’t really notice the container in the end, just the plants, but it does make it a bit more difficult to maintain.

“It’s not just about having a few pretty display flowers, either. Our constitution states that our aim is to provide sustainable planting, and to help encourage wildlife.

“If you look down our street there’s everything there, from pyracantha to purple elder, and Photinia 'Red Robin’. I’ve got a bay tree, a log with sedum growing out of it, alliums, bulbs. But everyone does what they want. If you want to co-ordinate, you can give everyone the same bulb. Last year we used a drumstick allium, this year there were lots of hyacinths.”

Founded in one street in June 2010, Full Frontal quickly spread. “People ask me how they can start something themselves,” Fern says. “We give them £100 to get started, thanks to donations from local ward councillors and the Co-operative Community Trust, as well as Medway Council. They then decide how to get the rest of their street involved.”

Those who sign up to Full Frontal can look forward to a busy social life, and plant-related gifts.

“Sometimes people will just donate plants overnight. You’ll wake up and there will be a new container on your doorstep.

“The way it’s gone has been quite magical. Years ago everyone was so proud of their front gardens. Now they just park in them. It’s possible to have it both ways. I don’t see why Full Frontal couldn’t work everywhere.

“In the beginning, for me, it was about the plants. But now it’s about sociability. Plants sit there, doing nothing, but they bring people together.”